Although the exact cause was never determined, the fire began in the undeveloped chaparral and grasslands of Wildcat Canyon, just east of the ridgeline of the Berkeley Hills, and was propelled over the ridge and southwestward just south of Codornices Creek by a strong, gusty, and intensely dry northeasterly wind. The fire quickly blew up as it swept through the La Loma Park and Northside neighborhoods of Berkeley, overwhelming the capabilities of the Berkeley Fire Department to stop it. A number of UC students fought the advance of the fire as it approached the north edge of the University of California campus at Hearst Avenue. The other edge of the fire was fought by firefighters as it advanced on downtown Berkeley along the east side of Shattuck Avenue north of University Avenue. Firefighters were rushed in from neighboring Oakland while San Francisco sent firefighters by ferry across the bay. The fire was halted when the gusty northeast wind was suddenly stopped by the cool, humid afternoon seabreeze.

As a belated result of this fire, in 1948, the City of Berkeley constructed a fire station in the hills at 2931 Shasta Road (at Queens Road) just below Grizzly Peak Blvd.[1] In the early 2000s, this station was replaced and relocated to a nearby site just above Grizzly Peak Blvd. at 3000 Shasta Road,[2] on the interface between the residential area and Tilden Regional Park, very close to the putative origin of the 1923 fire.
_______________________________
From: Monday, September 17, 1923
To: Sunday, March 11, 1973
Result: 18,074 days
49 years, 5 months, 23 days
1,561,593,600 seconds
26,026,560 minutes
433,776 hours
18,074 days
2582 weeks
_______________________________
From: Monday, September 17, 1923
To: Tuesday, September 11, 2001
Result: 28,484 days
77 years, 11 months, 25 days
2,461,017,600 seconds
41,016,960 minutes
683,616 hours
28,484 days
4069 weeks
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